BC Ferries Officially Ends The All-You-Can-Eat Pacific

BC Ferries has decided to move on from the all-you-can-eat buffet on its Tsawwassen Swartz Bay route.

It’ll be up to you to decide on food services moving forward.

An online survey will be open for the next few weeks.

Based on travelers’ feedback a new, more sustainable, offering is expected to be introduced to customers this fall.

BC Ferries was initially forced to suspend the Pacific Buffet in 2020 due to health safety regulations relating to the spread of COVID.

BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez says the food industry has been significantly challenged by the pandemic; fewer food suppliers, supply chain unreliability, new attitudes about food safety and waste as well as record high food costs have forced all businesses to rethink their strategies.

In the meantime, the buffet dining room will be open to provide customers with extra seating during the peak summer travel season.

Pre-pandemic, the buffet required seven staff members per sailing, or more than 80 crew in total and lost approximately $1.2 million annually.

Price modelling found the buffet would continue to lose money even with a price hike of up to 30 per cent due to the increased costs of food and labour.

In the last year the Pacific Buffet operated, it attracted less than nine per cent of the route’s 4.87 million passengers.